Rwanda, like many of the Sub Saharan Africa, has seen a tremendous increase in cancer incidence in recent years. The required medical personnel, infrastructure and awareness of the disease have not even come close to matching this huge and increasing burden.
However despite these challenges, Rwanda has shown the political will to move things in the right direction. Rwanda is among only a few countries throughout Africa that allocated more than 15% of its total budget to health care, in accordance with the 2001 Abuja Declaration by African Union countries.
With this allocation and other efforts, over the last five years, we have seen significant progress in cancer care, advocacy, policy, training and research. Hosting this conference in Kigali is a testament to the achievements of Rwanda and the trust that the oncology community across both the continent and globe has for our country.